JetSet is really zooming along in the design process. The team has broken up into two groups, Prototype Design and Biomedical Research. The prototype design group is focusing on making a 3D model of our prototype. The biomedical research group is focusing on how our design affects the different body systems and how our design is alleviating the medical problem we are trying to address, DVT. The two groups are coming up with new ideas and then coming together to collaborate and see how we can better our device. As a member of the biomedical research group, one interesting article I found was The relationship of Foot and ankle movements to venous return in the lower limb by D. H. Sochart, K. Hardinge. This research paper really helped me better understand the mechanics of blood flow and how specific movements help increase blood velocity.

This past week, we made our first purchases for our design. Since the design is still in its early stages we decided to only purchase wooden beads and 3D printer filament. The base of our design is unique and we have come to the conclusion that there is not going to be a similar board out in the market at the moment. We also did not want to purchase wood since it is a heavy material and one of our goals is to make our device light weight and easy to carry. Thus we decided to purchase 3D printer filament and print out our base. The wooden beads are going to be used in the base. They fit into the grooves we have designed and will be used by our customer as a massaging method.

Two class periods ago, our group was discussing the angle we want our pedals to come up to in our design. Originally, the design was meant to have 45 degree bike pedals. During that class period we conducted an experiment and saw that 45 degrees was extremely uncomfortable and would not be beneficial to our consumers. We started using a protractor and a clipboard to test our group members feet and see how much they could flex. We saw that two of our group members were able to go up to 30 and 35 degrees, while the other two members were lower at around 25 degrees. This showed us that we needed to decrease the angle of our bike pedals in our design.

The ankle flex motions the JetSet prototype will be addressing. Image found at: http://www.docpods.com/images/FootPain/dorsiflexion-plantarflexion.gif

Our group decided though that the clipboard/protractor method wasn’t exactly the best method to collect data with. With that in mind, Anjali and I got together to make a small device that would allow us to test multiple people (so we can get a lot more data with a larger diverse group of people) and have the information be accurate. Anjali and I traveled to the Maker Space and found some wood and cardboard scraps to use in our design. Then we came back to the classroom to put it all together. We glued a protractor to the side of the wood. The design isn’t complete yet since we still need to add our cardboard to it. Hopefully in class on Monday, we can add the cardboard and start testing it on the people in our class. With the information we gather, we can make an accurate bike pedal angle that will be beneficial to most of the people who would be using our device. It was fun being a part of the engineering aspect. I don’t have a lot of experience in building prototypes and using materials to make a design, but it was fun doing that for this small project. I learned that I do like building things and can’t wait to continue doing that as our prototype starts to come together.

This is an example of measuring the angle of how far a person can flex their foot. It isn’t very accurate which was the reason the team decided to make a small design to test it more accurately.

In the coming weeks, JetSet hopes to finish our 3D modeling and start building once our materials start to come in. JetSet is extremely excited to see how this project comes together.